Repotted Phal is Struggling

[bwehr28]

Hi all! I have a Phalaenopsis that recently shed her flowers. I had bought the orchid while it was blooming from a store. It was overgrowing the pot I bought it in so once the flowers were shed, I repotted it. The root system was healthy. The original pot was plastic with drainage hols in the bottom, and that plastic pot was placed in a ceramic container. The medium was a mix of bark and moss, and the plant did very well with watering once a week. The new pot is ceramic with aerating holes along the side and a drainage container at the bottom. I have repotted the orchid into Better-Gro Special orchid potting mix which is primarily bark, charcoal, and perlite. I repotted the plant 1.5 months ago and the leaves have started to go limp. I thought since the sides were receiving more air and the medium had changed that I needed to water it more frequently. I have gone to watering the orchid 2x a week, but it has not helped my leaf health. The plant is sprouting new root shoots. The bark seems dry when I water it, but now I am afraid I might be over watering. Should I add some moss to my medium? This is a larger Phal with 2 spikes when in bloom so I thought it might need more water than my others. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

[jkofferdahl]

I think it's simply. Fresh potting mix can take a lot more water, and quickly dries between waterings. I think you just should water more often.

[bwehr28]

So do you think I should water it every other day? I have a rescue mini Phal that I have in the same medium and pot type. It is thriving on watering once a week.

[jkofferdahl]

Try watering more often, yes.

[Cheddarbob14]

In general, I agree with watering more often? Are you keeping the plant indoors or out? If outside, where do you live? Either way, to go from a plastic pot with bark and moss, to ceramic with aerating holes and fresh new medium (with no moss), that's quite a change. There's a lot more air getting to your roots, which is good btw. When watering, I'd make sure you are giving it a good flush over the sink. Here's a great link on using wooden skewers to help determine whether to water or not.....Using skewers to determine when to water

[Dollythehun]

Forgive me John. That is quite a change for your plant. I actually like the moss bark combination and you might think about going back to that.It should be fine with a ceramic pot. I have purchased quite a few phals from IKEA in that mix. It made John shudder but they did fine and bloomed like crazy better than my old timers in bark. So I figured, why not?

[ShadePlant]

Not sure where you live, but I find the better gro mix doesn't keep my phals moist enough in the heat that I live in. When I use that mix I miss in some moss and my phals all do much better. You can either water a lot more often or put some spagh in the mix and things should improve.

[bwehr28]

This orchid I bought from Aldi. It was healthy and did very well in the moss and bark, which is why I was questioning my medium change. The Better Gro Mix has been working well for my other Phals. The one I've posted about is just very large and I think requires more attention.

I live in northern Wisconsin. All of my orchids are inside and when not in bloom, and I use a Zip-Lock bag for a greenhouse. Again, the orchid in question is very large so I have not found a way to help maintain the humidity for this orchid. I do have a medium with moss and bark I may try when I repot my next orchid.

---------- Post added at 07:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:23 AM ----------

And... I've been reading that Phals do not do well when going from moss/bark to straight bark. That's why I feel like I have messed up. One of the bottom leaves has started to turn yellow (I know this is a normal life cycle process), but it seems like a lot is going wrong at once. However, until now the orchis was sprouting lots of new roots and is budding new leaves.

[Optimist]

2 things are needed to keep those leaves "stiff." Water, and sunlight. Since I keep the phals I have in lecca, I cannot say that having dry potting material is going to hurt them as long as they get enough water. Some people in areas of higher humidity have phals that are mounted, touching none-to very limited media.
Commercial phals only need about 30% inside humidity. That is about typical for an average house in a non-arid part of the world. Evaporation or a mister can be used to raise humidity (everyone knows this). I live in a very dry area, and to raise the ambient humidity of the house I put in a large fish tank. (You do not need to have fish, only water.)

Did you move it? Since you are watering at a good rate, perhaps the problem is light?

[bwehr28]

It has been in the same spot for 6 months.